1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mufflers and more specially to a muffler having a baffle with angled plates that reduces assembly complexity.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The prior art provides numerous designs of engine mufflers. Some of these prior art mufflers include U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,140 to Ashley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,655 to Woods and U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,889 to Wyatt. The Ashley et al. patent discloses a catalytic automotive exhaust converter. The converter is fabricated from a single casing, two end caps, an inlet pipe and an exhaust pipe. The casing includes a plurality of corrugations, which would require expensive tooling to produce. The Woods patent discloses a muffler for a marine engine. The muffler includes two baffle components, a can, two end caps, an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe. The Wyatt patent includes a formed piece of metal and two end caps. First and second serpentine half tubes are formed in the formed piece of metal.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a muffler having a baffle with angled plates, which provides reduced assembly complexity and quieter performance.